bill: five babes born on 12/12, 12. she was born at 12: 12:00 p.m.. she is not alone. at least four other babies born on 12/12,/12. >> good timing on the part of their moms. yeah, i went to a wedding yesterday on 12,/12,/12. very special. bill: i think they wear number 12 when they grow up. >> we'll stay tuned for that. "happening now" starts right now. jenna: brand new stories and breaking news. jon: russia acknowledges that president bashar al-assad may be losing control in syria as the crisis in his country escalates. 30 u.s. banks in the cross-hairs of cyberattackers. new warnings about a

potential fraud attack. starting today you might notice a big difference in tv commercials. we'll tell you about, "happening now." yes it is 12/13. doesn't have the ring. jenna: doesn't have the same exact ring. still a good day. jon: still a good day. good morning to you. i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. we have new concerns about north korea heading toward a new nuclear test after defiantly launching a rocket into orbit as we've been reporting to you here. north korean state television reporting, this is the video of the launch at the command center in that country. this rocket is similar to one that could carry an automatic warhead as far as california. while it appears to be orbiting the earth normally we're getting the word the rocket may not be functioning all that well. general fir griffin from the

pentagon. what else are we learning about this launch? >> reporter: there is confusion how successful the rocket launch was. u.s. officials confirmed to fox news while initial indications suggest that the launch was, worked in terms of going through the three-phases and putting the satellite into orbit, there are indications that the north koreans may not have full control over the satellite and while it remains in orbit, it is quote tumbling. it is not feared at this time by u.s. firms that it will fall out of the sky but they will watch it carefully the coming days. north koreans put out an account appears north koreans do have control over the satellite, contradicting u.s. intelligence. u.s. strategic command says they have not seen any problems with the light thus far. south koreans are continuing to retrieve debris from the long range rocket out of the sea, jenna. jenna: right now the rocket is orbiting somewhere? >> reporter: the satellite.

the rocket launched the satellite and the satellite is orbiting. but again you have to have some connection pack to earth and it seems that there may be some trouble communicating with that satellite but it is not tumbling out of the sky heading towards earth. it is still in orbit. >> what we have said both leading up toe and in the aftermath of this launch it was a provocative act that threatens regional peace and security and undermines the global nonproliferation regime. it is regretable that the leadership in pongyang chose to take this course in flagrant violation of its international obligations. >> in the days ahead the united states will work with partners on the security council as well as our partners in the six-party talks and other countries in the international community to pursue appropriate action. >> reporter: the problem is there are very few options in terms of appropriate action. as you know china sits on the u.n. security council

and has blocked efforts in the past to sanction the north korean regime. they are its only ally but a very powerful ally. it is not clear at this time whether china is willing to go along with any u.n. security council recommendations for further punishment of north korea. they are in violation of two significant resolutions but it is unclear what real authority the international community has in terms of punishing north korea further. jenna: interesting tie some of our top stories together. china continues to be a problem in syria. that is our top story of the day. jennifer, we'll continue to watch developments there. jon: watching the crisis in syria, a nation that continues to unravel. there are reports that more than a dozen died in a car bombing, many of them women and children. the state news agency say a car packed with explosives blew up near a school in a neighborhood outside the capital of damascus. we're learning forces loyal to president bashar al-assad

are firing scud missiles at rebel fighters. for the first time syria's most important international ally russia, is acknowledging that assad may be losing control. leland vittert is monitoring all of this live in our middle east bureau. leland? >> reporter: jon, this russian official said essentially the rebels are gaining ground and it is not inevitable that president assad will hold on. more significant who said it rather than the statement of the obvious that president assad's thread to beginning to unravel and his control over the country is disintegrating of the latest attack by the rebel groups is a car bombing in damascus. at least a dozen people are dead. this is the second time in two days there has been a car bombing inside the government's strong hold there in damascus. historically where the government had the most power and these attacks were typically carried out by the al-nusra front. they are a al qaeda iraq fighters that brought expertise and knowledge into syria and are using it with

deadly effect. it shows the rebels are continuing to be able to project force out and the government is becoming more and more defensive, perhaps one of the reasons they now move to use scud missiles against rebel positions because their tanks and air force have become largely ineffective. the video we're seeing on the ground coming out of these fighters, still all amateur video. we're not able to put crews on the ground but it shows increase street-to-street fighting t shows the rebels are becoming better armed and better equipped. they're taking the fight into damascus and continuing to try to push in and lay siege to a number of government positions. that certainly means there will be krien -- increase in numb number of casualties. nato chief said it is only a matter of time president assad will leave his regime we heard that before. only a year ago u.s. officials said president assad's days were numbered.

increase in foreign fighters, increase of people want to turn syria into islamic state that assembly president assad leaving will not be the stopping of bloodshed but a new chapter in syria's civil war that is continuing. jon, back to you. jon: what a mess. leland vittert live from the middle east bureau. thank you. we'll talk to a middle east expert about the scud missiles firing on the rebel forces in syria. why now and what does it mean for the tide of this civil war. jenna: a big topic inside this country is the fiscal cliff. we're minutes away from john boehner and his weekly press conference. the house speaker is expected to address the latest on negotiations in reaching any sort of a dealer who. we're less than three weeks to the january 1st deadline aft great deal of work needs to be done so the legislation can work through all the procedures in congress. mike emanuel is familiar with all that and joins us from capitol hill. any progress today? >> reporter: jenna we'll be waiting to listen to the

carefully to the speaker's tone. obviously the key person in terms of negotiations on the republican side. at this point it feels like there is really a lack of trust on both sides. democrats are essentially saying if republicans came forward, gave us more tax revenue, we would have a deal very quickly. republicans act like it's charlie brown and the football essentially saying okay we come forward with the tax revenue and we ask you about spending cuts you are like lucy and you pull the football away and we fall on our backs. bottom line the key member of the house republican leadership team doesn't sound very confident. >> my crystal ball is a little fuzzy but i fear i may hang the stocking on the chimney with care next to my colleagues. leading republicans are saying what president obama has presented wouldn't have enough to pass the democratic controlled united states senate, never mind the house of representatives. obviously everybody is worried about the lack of time, jenna. jenna: absolutely. we see a wire from reuters

news service now saying again, we heard this before, mike, that speaker boehner is charging that the president is not serious about cutting spending to get the fiscal cliff deal done. as we take a look, live look, what will be his news conference, we do see a chart, mike. that can always get a little scary. what is the chart for and what are they going to explain? tell us a little bit about the democrat side because we expect to hear from the democrats today. what is their frustration with the process. >> reporter: nancy pelosi, the democratic leader in the house talked to reporters a few moments ago she noted the clock is really ticking. if you want to get a deal it needs to be hammered out in the next day or some there is great anxiety with the christmas holiday coming up. with the procedural things you need to do to get legislation done. so the pressure is really on. pelosi talked a little bit what it was like when she was speaker and she had a deal with war funding with many is of her members. check this out. >> it's tough. but you have to do it. so is the point you don't want to put your members on

spot figure it out. we did. figure it out. and than, then go forward and continue to debate the issue but don't have our men and women in uniform wondering if they're going to be, if they're going to be high and dry because we couldn't have a policy debate that would later ensue, that we couldn't have it right there in a way that would end the war. >> pelosi was asked about the markets not reacting so far to congress and the white house not being able to work this out and she's making the assumption the markets have not reacted they're thinking washington would not be so stupid as to let this fall through, go off the fiscal cliff. bottom line we expect the speaker to hammer away on too much spending. washington has a spending problem, a familiar theme in all these talks, jenna. jenna: we'll take the viewers back there when bain starts to speak. mike, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jon: wouldn't it be nice if

he could talk about some progress. joining us with more on this, kimberly strassel, a columnist for "the wall street journal" as michael lewded to, they have about what, 72 hours really to get something concrete done here? >> that's right. when you think about this, everyone talks about the january 1st deadline but reality is most people are looking at next friday as the real deadline. they're assuming that that is when the markets consider there to be a deadline. if something isn't done by then maybe panic ensues. so when you work back from that you have to leave at least a week for the republicans to put something up in the house, give those requisite three days for members to read it, for the public to see it. go back and forth with the senate a little bit. if there is going to be a deal. things are not shaking loose here for a big deal in the next few days. i think there has to be an assumption that maybe there isn't going to be that big deal. then you start looking for whether or not republicans go for a plan b. whether or not we just continue motoring along toward the cliff.

jon: if you boil it down republicans are saying we want less government spending. the president and most democrats seem to be saying we've got to have higher taxes, more revenue. which side has the upper hand? >> look, i think one of the problems here in this stalemate is that john boehner has made a good point to the president. people go, well this is republicans negotiating against democrats. actually this is republican house negotiating against the president. what the president comes out for in the end will probably get the votes it needs from democrats. the problem is what john boehner faces on his side is coalescing his republican coalition around something that can sell. so when he says to the president, look, you've got to come forward and tell us what you're willing to do on entitlements. only when you do that can we even talk about what we're willing to give you on tax revenue because until he starts from that baseline, he can't begin to understand what republicans will go for and what he can get them behind. as long as the white house

continues to be refuse to be specific on that, potential for a deal is very slim. jon: there were some specifics on tuesday when the white house told your paper, "the wall street journal", that hey, we are willing to consider corporate tax reform. seemed to be some kind of olive branch to republicans but you say it actually may have hurt the process. why? >> yeah. because i don't think republicans viewed it that way. look, the assumption all along by the republicans and i think their belief all parties understood this, if we had a two-step process, something in terms of taxes and spending cuts up front, woulding towards a big tax reform deal next year, obviously that the tax reform next year was going to deal with individual tax rates and corporate tax rates, republicans always argued there is a big problem in the fact that there's a different, higher personal individual tax rate and a corporate tax rate. that needs to be narrowed or equalized. so when the white house came out and said we're willing to give you corporate tax

reform, wait a minute, that was already part of the deal. they felt that was a pressure tactic. that the white house put out there to make them look as though they were being reasonable offering something more when the republicans felt that was something that was always baseline. jon: i want to let you know, it appears speaker boehner is about to take to the podium. when he does do that i will have to interrupt your thoughts. >> you bet. jon: i want to get your take how we got here. when this fiscal cliff plan was put together year-and-a-half ago or so, it was seen so absurd, so threatening no sane politician would let it happen. here we are a few days, 10 days away from the deadline and it looks very possible. how did that happen? >> the fact we have this situation the first place is a failure congress to deal. they were supposed to come

up with cuts. they didn't manage to do it. there was hope they would deal with fax reform. that didn't happen. basically everyone sat back and decided to be on hold through the election. i think there was some sort of hope on, maybe on the republican side, something dramatic would shift in terms of governance and that would change the spectrum. that is not what actually happened. we're back with a washington that looks exactly the way it looked prior to this election. republican house, democratic senate, democratic presidency. some ways it is not necessarily surprising there has been progress on this, none of the actors changed. the stalemate we're facing is exactly the stalemate we're facing lags year when we had the debt ceiling hike. democrats want more spending. republicans want more cuts. i don't know how you find a in middle ground. you started out the congress failing to pass a budget but the president has a role too.

>> they're saying pass the senate bill that extend tax rates for 9% of the americans. let the top two tax pace expire and this will go a long way to for a balanced approach and solve the problem. if you pass the senate bill. $800 billion in revenue. that is $80 billion a year. to put in context the president ran a deficit of $1.1 trillion. $80 billion of tax revenue, reduced that from 1.1 trillion to 1.02 trillion. that is the problem. spending is the issue. there is reticence among democrats to do big, hard reforms that will be necessary to really drop the numbers down by the trillions. that we're not making any progress. jon: seems to me and maybe you disagree with this the president is winning the pr

battle. when you look at his approval ratings versus those of congress his is much higher. >> he is certainly winning the pr battle, he has a better hand here. reality if nothing happens he gets his tax hikes. if nothing happens there is sequester on the defense department which most republicans disagree with. so they're in the position of having to come up with a proactive move that he will agree with. that's a very tough hand to be dealt and something to get through. yeah, it always sounds good when you go out there, americans say tax the well think. if you're not in the category it is easier for you to say that is good idea. the reality, what has not sunk in and what republicans have not done adequately enough is explain this point you can tax everybody, you could let all the tax rates disappear, which everyone is talking about, the worst-case scenario. you still wouldn't take away

half of the deficits we've been running for the last years. you've got to have spending reform. jon: very good point. kimberly strassel, we always enjoy reading your columns in the "wall street journal." and i know this whole mess will give you a lot more to write about in the weeks to come. >> unfortunately, yes, thanks for being with us. we're continuing to keep an eye on the podium outside speaker boehner's office where he is expected to step up to the microphone and give us any minute. we hope there will be good news. what do you think, jenna, are chances of that? >> i'm not a betting woman, jon. i will bet as soon as rick starts talking in a second we'll see boehner and have to interrupt rick. rick will join us. have you ever noticed sometimes when the television is on, you're watching a show, rick, and goes to commercial break and blasted off the couch because the volume is so high. apparently we have a change that we can share with our viewers, some good news perhaps. >> reporter: good news starting today. we should start off this is nothing against the fine

companies that pay good money to advertise on fox news but there are a lot of ads on tv that really annoy people because how loud they are. it is the case for years. commercials purposely much louder than shows they run on as a way to get our attention. starting today, that is not allowed anymore. at midnight last night a new law took effect that requires the volume of commercials no louder than two decibels than the programing. congress passed this calm act, comercial advertisement loudness mitigation act. don't think it was passed as public service to you as television viewers, no. it was tv stations who pushed for this. every time you reach for the remote to adjust the volume you're an inch away from changing the channel. we don't want you to change the channel. thanks very much for the speaker not interrupting my report. jenna: we did it just for you. the question is if they get rid of high volume what is next to get our attention?

>> reporter: they will figure out something else. jenna: as you said we appreciate it. good ideas in the commercials every once in a while. rick, thank you. jon: some new information now on a fox news exclusive. a north carolina doctor is accusing a well-known executive of child sex abuse. the doctor is filing a lawsuit against the ceo of moose international. he says the penn state sex scandal prompted him to come forward. john roberts live in charlotte, north carolina with this fox exclusive for us. john. >> reporter: good morning to you, jon. a little while ago, noted sleep medicine specialist, dr. jason peck filed suit in ohio against william b. airey head of moose international. claiming when peck was 12 years old airy sexually assaulted him while traveling to a moose-related event. at that time he was an official with the local moose lodge in columbus, ohio where both were living. according to peck.

he befriend ad number of kids. took them to the moose lodge to watch television. took them on trips. on one of the trips he alleged that william airy tried to sexually molest him. in this trip to ohio it was full-on sexual assault. listen to what peck told me in an exclusive interview. >> it was in the middle of the night. the room was pitch black and i was very shocked, very scared. recall tears coming down my face, wetting the pillow behind me. and i laid perfectly still and pretty much just kind of went into shock mode and, and i didn't know if i was going to be hurt or injured, if i tried to fight back so i didn't. >> reporter: as the head of moose international william airy oversees moose heart, which is a campus of group hopes and a school for at risk youth. peck's attorneys says that gives him access to hundreds of young people. we're trying to reach out to airy.

we're told he is out of the country. we're awaiting back from the general council of moose international. we should point out this occurred a long time ago. there is statute of limitations in ohio. however peck's attorney argue that airy left the state before peck reached age of majority of 19 the clock stopped running on the statute. so they believe they still do have a case. jon? jon: john roberts from charlotte, north carolina. keep an eye on it. >> from charlotte, to washington, d.c. we're awaiting for speaker boehner and update on talks and negotiations for the fiscal cliff. as soon as he steps to the microphone we'll bring you there. we'll be back with more "happening now".

jon: speaker of the house john boehner beginning his weekly news update. >> the president still has not made an offer that meets those two standards but republicans have.

while the president promised the american people a balanced approach hess proposals have been anything but. he wants far more in tax hikes than in spending cuts. instead of beginning to solve our debt problem he wants new stimulus spending and the ability to raise the debt limit whenever he wants without any cuts or reforms. that's clear the president is just not serious about cutting spending, but spending is the problem. how big of a problem? look at this chart put together by paul ryan and the budget committee. this line is the current baseline for revenue. here if the president got everything he wanted, over $1.4 trillion in taxes, this is what that would represent. but if you look at the spending problem, you see it does nothing, nothing to solve the spending problem that our country has. listen, republicans want to

solve this problem by getting the spending lien down. the president wants to pretend that spending isn't the problem. that's why we don't have an agreement. the chart depicts what i've been saying for a long time now. washington has a spending problem. they can't be fixed with tax increases alone. the right answer is to start cutting spending, addressing our debt, and paving the way for long-term economic growth. unfortunately the white house is so unserious about cutting spending it a pierce willing to slow walk any agreement and walk our economy right up to the fiscal cliff. doing that puts jobs in our country in danger. it jeopardize as golden opportunity to make 2013 the year that we enact fundamental tax reform and entitlement reform to begin to solve our country's debt

problem and frankly revenue problem. as you can see from this chart real revenue growth is critically important as long as with real cuts in spending if we're going to solve our long-term fiscal problem. as i said five weeks ago the election wasn't a mandate to raise taxes on small businesses. it was a mandate for both parties to work together to take on the big challenges that our country is facing. republicans are ready and eager to do just that. we made a reasonable offer. it's now up to the white house to show us how they're going to cut spending and give us the balanced agreement the president has talked about for weeks. if the president will step up and show us he is willing to make the spending cuts that are needed i think we can do some real good in the days ahead. if not, he wants to keep chasing higher spending with higher taxes this chart will look a whole lot worse, and

our kids and our grandkids are the ones that will suffer because washington was too shortsighted to fix the problem. >> mr. speaker, several recent polls about 75% of the public believe that the tax rates for the upper income earners should expire. why are you holding out for a tax cut for the wealthy that most americans, even many wealthy people say we shouldn't have? >> raising tax rates will hurt small businesses at a time when we're expecting small businesses to be the engine of job creation in america. ernst & young made it clear if we do what the president is asking for, some 700,000 jobs would be at risk. it's simple as that. >> [inaudible].

>> well, we really shouldn't be. i argued going back to the spring this issue had to be dealt with. that's why in may the house moved a bill to replace the sequester with other cuts in mandatory spending. that is why in july the house passed a bill to expend -- extend all the current tax rates. i've been pushing all year for us to address this problem. but here, we are, at the 11th hour around the president still isn't serious about dealing with this issue right here. it is this issue, spending! now you go back, want to talk about polling, most americans would agree that spending is a much bigger problem than raising taxes. they want us to deal with this in a responsible way. >> problem with congress? my point, whatever the issue is takes this long each year in december to get these things done. >> unfortunately that is the case that we're dealing with today.

>> can you say categorically you will not put a bill on the floor to raise lower brackets at any point this month without the upper income? >> i don't quite understand what the question is. >> state categorically you will not decouple the upper rates? >> the law of the land today is everyone's income taxes are going to go up on january the 1st. i've made it clear that i think that is unacceptable. but, until we get this issue resolved that risk remains. >> mr. speaker, could you describe how difficult it is to craft a deal and that your conference will support while not jeopardizing your job as speaker? >> i'm not concerned about my job as speaker. what i'm concerned about is doing the right thing for our kids and our grandkids and if we don't fix this spending problem their future is going to be rather bleak. >> the white house says they

have put spending cuts on the table. they say that you know what they are. >> they put some spending cuts on the table. unfortunately the new stimulus spending they want almost outstrips all of the spending cuts that they have outlined. >> mr. speaker, you talk about purge list -- in the steering committee and people have been wanting to know will this list be released? >> there is no such list. >> mr. speaker, try again with what he was asking. right after the election you said increasing tax rates was unacceptable. since then you've been less definitive in the language you used. you say things like you oppose the idea. well that's what you said before the election. >> i do oppose the idea. >> right. will you permit a vote on a bill that, if we go over the

cliff, will you permit a vote to decouple that and then -- >> ifs and and and buts are like candy and nuts. if that were the case every day will be christmas. that will be real soon. my goal is get to the dreemt with the president of the united states to address this problem. >> do you think that the closer you get to the deadline you might get the cuts you want? >> i have no idea. >> mr. speaker, over in the senate leader reid made it pretty clear he agrees with the president about the debt limit, giving the president the authority to do that unilaterally. if he does that, is that complicate your efforts to enforce the -- [inaudible] if they're united -- >> do you think that senator reid or then senator obama would have ever given to president george w. bush the unlimited ability to raise the debt limit?

>> they're talking about doing it now. >> i know they're talking about it now. do you think there is any chance that senator reid or then senator obama would have done that? zero. congress has never is going to give up our ability to control the purse. and the fact is that the debt be used to bring fiscal sanity to washington, d.c.. >> last question. >> mr. speaker, last week supreme court -- [inaudible] as you know house republicans -- [inaudible] there was 1.5 million -- fund that loan. rd according to house democrats the that has been reached. [inaudible] >> if, if the justice department is not going to enforce the law of the land, the congress will. thank you all. jon: speaker of the house, john boehner there, updating us on where talks stand with the white house in connection with this fiscal

cliff potential calamity that is consuming all of washington right now. for me the most interesting thing he said he is not concern about his job as speaker. there has been suggestion that grumblings in the republican party could cause him to lose his speakership over the way he is conducting negotiations with the white house. but he held very firm there to the idea that he does not want to see and his conference he says does not want to see new taxes imposed on the job creators in this country, the top 2%, that the white house says, it wants to impose. so the two sides apparently remain at loggerheads. that's where we are. we'll continue to keep an eye on the negotiations. jenna? jenna: we certainly will. a new security threat to our nation's banks especially important to you if you do a lot of banking online. a report released today is warning hackers may stage a massive attack that would be very difficult to stop in the next several months. morgan wright, a cybersecurity analyst is

joining us now. morgan, this is from mcafee. >> right. jenna: how credible is this threat? >> very credible. mcafee is credible company, symantec. they do this all the time. i read the report before we came on air. it is extensive. goes into details how it starts and what it is doing that makes it a very novel and different approach. jenna: what makes a difference. >> they're using code from different things called zeus, spy eye, that microsoft shut down earlier. what you will go to the site, think it is your banking site, and what it is doing in the background putting something between you and your bank as you answer the question diverting that to its own server. makes you think on your bank but at the same time is siphoning funds from your own account. jenna: what can we do about it? >> put less money in your account. jenna: we have more money in the account, right? >> what you can do, really gets down we'll have to depend a lot to make sure banks understand this threat. if you use a pc, make sure

your anti-virus is up-to-date because signatures change all the time. jenna: we go through this apple versus pc. >> absolutely. jenna: are you more vulnerable on a pc? >> you absolutely are. this threat is targeted specifically, the zeus, spot net, spy i.d. form basis of target only windows-based machines. jenna: okay. >> the other thing you have to look at behavior of website, when you see a window pop up and you have error shut that thing down. jenna: really? >> that is how it is getting you to send the information. put secret information in. it says please wait, goes off to the server andtation your information. jenna: very interesting, a couple months ago several of our big banks in this country experienced a huge hacking project, i guess, what you call it hacking incident? >> that was the group --. jenna: everyone thinks it came from, everyone, experts point to iran. >> definitely iran. jenna: you agree with that. it is denial of service request. >> yes. jenna: when you want to

access the bank it would say it is not available for service. this is one of the biggest record breaking hacking we've seen. >> yes. jenna: now we're getting a little bit of a warning on this why, is the belief this will happen the next few months and not happen now if the capability is there? >> one thing they're doing very good job marketing. they're saying we're going to attack. >> hackers are? >> they're recruiting people, training people to be bottom net masters. jenna: this is challenge saying we're going to do it and you won't be afbl to stop us. >> they may stop some of this but how do you stop a fire hose? if you're one person against the fire hose it will make it different difficult for law enforcement to stop that. charactericses of organized crime. you go ahead get the wiretap. this absolutely fits that definition of organized crime something happens you don't want law enforcement

waiting to get a warrant. you want them to intercept the traffic right away, find it, shut it down. jenna: can they do that now? >> it is difficult because of proposed changes to the law. jenna: as we talked about watching out for ourselves if something pops up shut down the program, we're careful. what about the big guns, cia and fbi you advised in the past, are they on this? do they have the capabilities to protect tech us? >> no. not to protect us. that will come from the companies, the private sector that build this. the banks. what they can provide is something intelligence and information. they need to do a better job sharing information and intelligence and financial services industry was the first one to create the financial services information sharing analysis center. president clinton signed it into office called presidential directive 63 said let's do a better job sharing information between the government and the private sector to better defend against these threats. it is intelligence that will help you prevent this a lot. jenna: i am curious, i have

to let you go, if you're cybersecurity analysts do you a do a lot of shopping online. >> i do but gone to use apps on ipad to stay off-line. i'm a mac guy through and through. jenna: you don't work for mac or employed by apple. >> no, but i prefer it because it works but absolutely because of the security issues. that doesn't mean it won't be vulnerable to something but when you've got 10 million problems out there, mac only has a few of those. why a lot of people especially intelligence community, these agencies, there are intelligence community agencies don't have windows code running. linux, unix, things that can be highly secured. jenna: this could be potentially a very big story over next couple months. we have a little insight. great to have you on set. jon. jon: scary stuff there. good warnings. syria's president showing what many believe are new signs of desperation in his fight against the rebels. his regime is now firing scud missiles at its

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jenna: now to syria where the crisis there is escalating. its most important international ally, russia, acknowledges for the very first time that president assad may be losing control. russia's deputy foreign minister is saying the opposition could win the civil war. this is coming we're learning the regime is firing scud missiles at rebel fighters. the obama administration sees the move the latest bid to push back at the opposition as it gains ground. however in syria, an official is denying any claims that the government is using cud missiles at all. a lot of chaos on the ground. we know that to be true. jonathan, we watched this play-by-play for 21 months. you say right now is a significant time. why? >> well, you know i think that first of all we're

seeing the regime fire on its own assets. in other words the scud rockets are firing right now from one syrian peace controlled by the syrian regime against another base that appears to be at least on the verge of being taken over by the rebels. so it appears the regime is actually destroying its own assets. that is significant. the fact they're firing off the scud rockets, this is some heavyweight stuff. i think they're nearing kind of the bottom of the barrel. i've also read reports that they have been dropping naval mines from the air. again, looks like they're just sort of right at the end of the ordnance they might have readily available. you get a sign there is real desperation here. we've been hearing for months now that the tide is turning. now that we have russia finally ceding this as well, i mean i don't want to make predictions here but i do think we're in the 11th hour. jenna: what about the chemical weapons? where they, who has them?

>> that is the big question. right now the israeli intelligence is out there saying that the chemical weapons are still locked up. that there is no risk of having them come out. but of course we've heard different reports from the ground. really uncertain at this point. but we are seeing reports this morning from al-hayat newspaper, based out the london, a saudi-owned source, the syrians may be firing on chemical stockpiles near where the rebels have gained ground. so the idea here might be, again this is unconfirmed, they may be trying to create a chemical disaster by not actually even firing off chemical weapons but rather shooting areas where they're stockpiled. jenna: very interesting. it would obviously prevent chemical weapons falling into what they consider the enemy which is the opposition. we heard this week from the obama administration late last week about the red line if those chemical weapons are used then, we don't really know, then what. that has been the statement

so far from the administration. you say it is too little too late for to us get involved now. why? >> this has been going on for almost two years. we had the opportunity to go in there at every step of the way to try to help shape the opposition, to help weed out bad apples. to help identify who some more moderate figures might be and we punted really for the first year. we didn't engage. i would argue our policy was simply not know the opposition. now we are engaging. but at this point we're watching chaos unfold on the ground. jenna: real quick, jonathan, if i could, i was looking back at bosnia. they are very different situations. it took us three to four years to get involved in bosnia. according to one report from the brookings institute the reason why clinton decided to go in, that bosnia was becoming a cancer, that's what they thought, to their foreign policy overall in that part of the world. do you think syria is in that same space for the obama administration? is that where the cost benefit is coming in. >> i think so. look at the fact we've got

30 to 40,000 people that have been killed. you have a chemical weapons problem looks like it will be difficult to contain. al qaeda is creeping up in this part of the world. let's not forget, all the critical countries that border syria. iraq where we've invested blood and treasure that could come at risk by having an overflow from syria. obviously the news a front is from is from kuwait. lebanon highly unstable country controlled in large part by hezbollah a iranian proxy. you could watch things spill over there. israelies are biting their nails. jenna: you say if it is too late what do we do? if that is the case what do we do now? >> i think we'll have to wait and see how the administration takes next steps here but i don't see anything that we can do right now to insure that the right people come to power. we're designating al qaeda types and other radicals and

say we shouldn't be working with them but at this point i don't think we've got much skin in the game. this might have been a missed opportunity for the administration and that's a real shame. jenna: that very interesting you say we heard from the administration we're not working with that group. the next question is, what are we doing preventing that group from coming to power in that country? that is step for another good segment. jonathan, great to have you on the program. >> my pleasure, thanks. jon: there is interesting new study out about memory loss and what your social interactions could have to do with you and whether or not you are likely to develop dementia. also, panic on the campus of a major university as police search for two possibly, armed men after a wild holdup and police chase it's my favorite time of year again and now -- i got a great new way to get deals. it's called bankamerideals, from bank of america. i choose the cash back deals in my mobile or online banking. i just use my bank of america debit or credit card when i pay. and i get as much as 15% cash back --

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jenna: latest on a manhunt near a california university. rick has more. >> reporter: it began as a holdup. it turned into a high-speed chase, a manhunt, lockdown as you said and arrest on little league ballfield. five suspects robbed a pawn shop/jewelry store in southern california. one of the men was shot and seriously wound ad clerk during the robbery. comes the getaway. they jumped into a single car. that car wind up rear ending a vehicle. police respond to the accident. two suspects arrested on the spot. three others get away on foot. one of them goes and carjack as vehicle, leads police in a high-speed chase. eventually ditching the car. and this is what we're watching now. his apprehension. he tried to escape by running near a ballfield where the los angeles police chief was handing out awards to young kids. that is where he was arrested. other two were on the run. one was spotted on the grounds of cal state fullerton. that campus was on lockdown

for seven hours overnight. the search continues for those two. we'll keep you posted what happens. back to you. jenna: sounds good, rick, thank you. jon: there is fascinating new study out on dementia and who is more likely to develop memory loss. a dutch study finds that older adults who feel lonely, regardless how many friend and family surround them, will be more likely to experience maniry problems and other symptoms of dementia. let's bring in dr. keith ablow, a member of the fox news medical a-team. we have to distinguish between being alone and feelings of loneliness. these people said they felt, lonely, they are 64% likely to develop dementia according to this study? >> well, you know, you have to take a fine-tooth comb to this study. the study does say after looking at a couple thousand people in the netherlands over 65 who doesn't have full-blown dementia by any

means when the study started, there is 64% higher risk for those who say i feel lonely at the beginning of the study, even if they're living with their families. the feeling of loneliness seemed to be associated with them later, years later, developing dementia. the trouble is, the participants in the study, the people who structured this, admit, we don't know whether these feelings were an early sign of dementia. so we don't know whether loneliness causes dementia or is early dementia defined by loneliness or feelings of loneliness. jon: right. people who are experiencing dementia might be embarrassed forgetting names and forgetting birthdays, and might limit social contact and feel lonely as a result. >> they might just feel lonely. they may be a little depressed for instance. people don't seem to like me. i feel quite isolated. is that depression? is that dementia? is it being lonely or feeling lonely that causes

dementia? that study does not establish that it hints at possibility that feeling lonely could deprive people of belle being and even memory and being associated with dementia and argues for tools like skype. can skype help people? can online forums help them? we should certainly learn from this to be much more involved if we can be with our loved ones because those who feel lonely may be at an increased risk for dementia. jon: i've seen it in my own family. it is saddest thing when person otherwise perfectly healthy doesn't have the mind they used to. quick tips how people can help prevent dementia if possible? >> look it, i think number one, think about it. skype's a pretty easy technology. you can reach out to loved ones in your family via skype. it is personality-driven. it does engage people. secondly, pets, i think pets are way underutilized.

i've seen people's lives transformed by a dog or cat. thirdly there is so much expertise in older folks right now. people trying to start businesses. reach out to somebody. look, we can't even pay you but if you're willing to come in and advise us on our startup we would love to see you an hour a week. that is a new life for some of these people. jon: great advice. dr. keith ablow. thanks very much. >> all right, my friend. take care. jenna: north korea demanding the world's attention now with the successful rocket launch and satellite in orbit. what is next for the country? some say a nuclear test. how should the united states respond? we'll talk about it top of the hour [ woman ] ring. ring.

progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. >> reporter: hi, everybody, we're in the "happening now" control room, and a brand new hour ahead for you including what is next with north korea now that the communist country has launched a rocket into space. could a nuclear test be that far behind? that's been the pattern, we'll talk about what it means for the u.s. and for the world. also, a plot to kill justin bieber. grisly details about what two

men were planning to do to the singer and his bodyguard. and finally, only 12 more shopping days til christmas. we've got a lowdown on the hottest toys of the season. all that and breaking news as the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. jenna: well, for the very first time secretary of state hillary clinton will be giving public testimony about benghazi. welcome to "happening now," i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. secretary clinton finally sets a date she will appear on capitol hill, exactly one week from today. lawmakers want to know more about shifting explanations by the administration and security decisions before the attack which left four americans dead including our u.s. ambassador to libya. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge live on capitol hill for us now, so where do we stand in this investigation now, catherine? >> reporter: well, thank you, jon, and good morning. today here on capitol hill we have two closed, classified

briefings, there's one this afternoon and one before the house intelligence committee has just wrapped up, and we just heard from the ranking member, the senior democrat on that committee, who said the briefing broke down into two components. the other looked at the state department's internal report. >> now, there's another issue out there, and that's the state department. and that is really one of the key issues, is how did this occur, why it occurred and to make sure that we can protect our ambassadors and our state department people and other people who go to hot spots in the world to protect us. >> reporter: at the heart of the state department's internal review, also known as an accountability review board s the question whether the state department has culpability for the deaths of four americans on 9/11. fox news was first to report based on a classified cable that there was an emergency meeting in benghazi in august where they notified headquarters here in washington that they could not withstand a coordinated attack and that there were at least ten islamist or al-qaeda groups

training in benghazi itself. not only was not more secure supplied, but the security was actually drawn down further, and it will be a week today that the public and members of congress will be able to hear directly from secretary of state hillary clinton because now that testimony, that we have a fixed, firm date on that, jon. jon: you also mentioned the fbi investigation. what about the progress in that, is there any? >> reporter: well, what we know is that at least two suspects are in custody. one was recently on the weekend was picked up in egypt, and the second one has been held in tunisia, but there has been great frustration among lawmakers that the fbi hasn't had immediate access to the suspect in tunisia, and some have taken to the floor here on capitol hill to say that u.s. taxpayer aid ought to be cut off until these countries begin to cooperate with us. >> why are we giving any sort of aid to a country that has proven at this time it is no friend or ally of the united states? why are we not doing everything

in our power to investigate the events in benghazi that killed four americans? should secretary clinton fail to cut off aid to tunisia, i will take legislative action to cut off the aid to tunisia. >> reporter: just to remind folks, this investigation into the benghazi terrorist attack is being treated under the law enforcement model by the obama administration which means the fbi is the lead investigating body. and earlier this week fox news asked the attorney general to respond to criticism that it really seems stalled to the public, and he said that there is more going on in the investigation than meets the eye. >> you talk about one part of the investigation, um, of an investigation that is ongoing. and our efforts with regard to that specific part that you mentioned are, indeed, ongoing, and we'll see how that develop cans. but there are a whole range of other things that we're doing with regard to the benghazi incident that we, frankly, don't talk about. >> reporter: what is not a dispute is that no suspects have

been formally charged in that terrorist attack and the murder of four americans more than three months ago, jon. jon: yeah. that's still the big question yet to be answered. catherine herridge reporting live. thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jenna: we're going to take you to the senate right now where senator dick durbin is talking about the latest on the fiscal cliff negotiations, other democratic leadership is there. let's just listen in for a point. >> why hasn't he brought up the farm bill that passed 175 days ago that passed in the united states senate, a bipartisan bill? it's a bill that's important to ohio and illinois and many other states from farmers who are trying to recover from a pretty tough crop year, and yet speaker boehner won't call it for a vote. what is john boehner waiting for? why won't he call the violence against women act reauthorization? passed with a bipartisan vote in the senate. traditionally, we didn't even have a vote on it, it was such a bipartisan measure. what is john boehner waiting for when it comes to postal reform?

how many months ago did we send him that bill asking the house of representatives to step up and do something so we can insure our postal service remains the best in the world. and the most obvious question, what is john boehner waiting for when it come cans to tax cuts for working families across america? i mean, this is the reality that we face. we sent the bill to him months ago that will protect 98% of american families, and yet he won't call it on the floor. what is he waiting for? is he waiting for what's going to happen january 1st when consumer confidence is shaken across america as everyone sees an increase in income tax rates including working families because john boehner won't act? is he waiting for the sgr doc fix? we just met with a group of doctors. as of january 1st, the reimbursement for doctors under medicare goes down 27%. is he waiting for that to happen? or is he waiting for january

3rd, his election as speaker? i hope it's not that. i hope he understands that putting this off is not fair to america, particularly america's working families. it certainly isn't good for this recovering economy. it's going to hurt us as we wait. and there's just no excuse left. there is solid support among republicans across america as well as independents and can democrats to make sure we protect working families and move forward or with a responsible deficit reduction package. jenna: so that's senator durbin responding to also what congressman boehner, speaker boehner said last hour. we brought that to you live as well. there's a lot of back and forth about what's happening in congress right now, where are we with the fiscal cliff negotiations based on these two pressers, it's fair to say probably not close to a negotiation. watch it, by the way, streaming at foxnews.com live, so you can check out for that. now we have a rare opportunity for you. just coming in to us on the

newsroom, we have a phoner from aleppo, syria. a friend of the show, we've talked to him before when he came back stateside is in aleppo right now, and he's going to tell us a little bit about what's happening on the ground. barak, can you describe what's happening in that city? >> basically, the rebels hold part of the city, and the regime holds the other part of the city, and the regime shells -- [inaudible] you hear jets in the sky. and it's very, very difficult right now for the civilians to lead a regular life. one man told me today he -- [inaudible] 20 days. people respect having, able to get their basic supplies they need. some buildings are just flooded with water. jenna: barak, you say you've talked to the rebels. can you tell us a little bit about who they are? >> well, there's a whole medley of rebels. you have some more islamist

rebels, then you have -- [inaudible] categorized as terrorist organizations. most of the rebels, though, just want to rid themselves of bashar assad's regime which momentum give them opportunities or freedom. >> barak, one of the things we've heard today at least from folks outside syria is they feel this might be a real turning point inside the country. you've been there before. what does it seem like now versus at times in past? it seemed like assad is closer to falling. >> well, there's been a lot of momentum generated outside the country first with the announcement that the national -- there was a new -- [inaudible] governing body called the national coalition. then last week it was a meeting of the free syrian army officials -- [inaudible] military hierarchy. then a couple days ago when president obama recognized the -- [inaudible] of syria. so there's a lot of momentum

outside the country, but inside the country people are tired here in aleppo. they've been fighting here for months. they don't have electricity, they don't have water. lots of people just want the fight to end. however, on the rebel side, the fighters' side, there is some type of optimism. the momentum generated outside has boosted their spirit. but, again, there's a lot of fighting in different places throughout the city. jenna: right. it's so difficult to keep track of kids the country. how much danger are you in right now? >> well, it's very strange. it's very interesting because in some parts of the city there's no-go area. there's fighting there. if you walk down the streets, there's some sniping. but you walk about a quarter a mile, half mile from there, and regular and normal. little kids are playing soccer in the streets. people are fixing tires on cars in the garages. they're trying to keep their life normal and keep them from going insane. jenna: wow. barak joining us live from

inside aleppo, syria. so rare to get that inside perspective from inside the country. pa rack, we thank you very much. we'll continue to watch barak's reporting from inside the country and give us an idea what's really happening on the ground there. jon: some of those images so sering. north korea's latest rocket launch sparking new fears of another nuclear test from that country. we'll tell you more about what has the world worried just ahead. plus, some wild video as a truck hits a scooter and runs over the driver. [ loud party sounds ] hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've gotine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach.

jon: just in, some incredible new surveillance video. a woman riding her electric bike straight into the path of an oncoming truck. this happened in china. the truck driver was turning off a main road, apparently never saw the bike until it was too late. the bike, completely crushed, but the rider got incredibly lucky, falling in between the

wheels. she surprised everybody when she crawled out from underneath the truck on her own, only minor injuries. whoa. ♪ jenna: well, north korea raising new nuclear fears today after defying the international community by launching a long-range rocket. now, many analysts expect north korea to follow up with a launch that is a nuclear test. we know they have nuclear capabilities. and this is sparking a lot of concern here stateside, but also for the nearly 30,000 u.s. troops stationed in that demilitarized zone protecting south korea. major general bob scales is a fox news military analyst, and as you watch what north korea is doing, how do you make sense of it, and what type of threat do you think they pose us? >> well, this is a real rubicon, jenna. i mean, the north has finally demonstrated that they have the technology to do three-stage

rocketry. and what that means is they have the ability to build an icbm that could reach the western united states, guam, hawaii and, of course, alaska. what they haven't done yet is demonstrate the ability to tip it with a nuclear weapon. look, the payload in this rocket was about 100 kilograms, about 220 pounds. at their stage of nuclear developments, they would -- could miniaturize a nuclear weapon down to it, but they would need to miniaturize it down to about a ton, about 1500-2000 pounds and lift that into orbit. right now they're a long way from that, but that's not the point. jenna, it's now an engineering problem for north korea and not a scientific and technical problem, and that poses a real risk to the united states. jenna: so you say they're not there yet, but again, that's not the point. >> right. jenna: so what do we do about it, general scales? >> yeah, there are a couple of things. the first thing that i think we must do is expand our

psychological operations campaign against the north. we tried this about 10, 15 years ago, it was effective, and it was stopped. look -- jenna: what is that, psychological operations? >> in other words, we have to, we have to use modern communications technology, facebook, twitter and the internet to get to the man in the street in north korea -- jenna: so propaganda, if you will. >> absolutely. convince him he's living on 800 calories a day, and yet his leaders are launching satellites into space and try to create that element of discontent. there's some evidence that i've read recently that kim jung-il is having difficulty gaining and maintaining authority in the country, perhaps that's one of the reasons for this early launch. and so this is an opportunity to cause regime change, if you will, in the north. that's about the only way that we can topple this regime. but understand kim jong un is no longer going to be approached

through sanctions or through any type of military action. it has to be something that's direct and threatens his control on -- jenna: you know, it's interesting, i know you're a student of history, you're a ph.d. in history as well -- along with being a general, which i think is pretty cool, and i like to bring it up. one of the things i was looking at when i was researching north korea is we actually don't have an official peace treaty with the country. we have an armistice agreement, but no peace treaty, and this is something that the north koreans want. how does that figure in to what's going on here, and how does that potentially give us some more tools to deal with north korea? >> well, remember, an armistice is not an uncommon thing. remember the first world war ended with an armistice capped with the treaty offer versaillea couple of years later. it works total benefit -- to the benefit of the north koreans not to translate this armistice into a peace treaty because they survive on a state of perpetual war with south korea and the

united states, and that's how they explain to their citizens -- that's the reason, jenna, that they give for developing the rockets and having a 1.2 million-man army and having 15,000 artillery pieces. that's the only justification they can offer is the fact that the united states is their bitter enemy, and they have to prepare against it. and they do that by propping themselves up as the regime leaders in north korea. jenna: very interesting. james rosen was just telling us yesterday the military-first policy in the country is one of the reasons why the rest of the population is in the state that it is. general scales, it's always a pleasure to have you on the show. thank you so much. >> thank you, jenna. jon: new details on a bizarre murder plot targeting the pop star justin bieber. how police discovered a plan that is amazingly gruesome. and a look at the top toys of the holiday season. is some of the -- some of the best old toys are new again. that's the one our senior producer wants right there.

>> fur by's really hot right now. anncr: some politicians seem to think medicare and...

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jon: new details on a murder plot that police say targeted pop star justin bieber, and call this one bizarre is an understatement. rick folbaum has the info. >> reporter: bizarre and gruesome. not only to kill him, the plan was to castrate him as well. all of it revealed by a local tv station in new mexico, krqe-tv, the station reporting that a convicted killer doing time in prison recruited two men from new mexico to carry out the plot on his behalf. mark stack key was one of those hit men. he apparently tipped off the police himself who arrested him and his accomplice. there's stackye. his accomplice, tanner rain.

rain had gardening sheers on his person, reportedly for the castration part of this plot. the plan was to kill him at madison square garden here in new york city. they were to strangle him using bow ties and dismember him. both men are in custody, as is dana martin who was serving a life sentence for the 2000 rape and murder of a young girl. martin is told to be obsessed to the point of having bieber's face tattooed on his leg. jon: anything about motive? i mean, just what was this all about? >> reporter: it seems that this guy who came up with the plot is obsessed with justin bieber. i mentioned the tattoo. he also has some weird thing with bow ties where he had used bow ties to kill victims in past crimes, some including the one that landed him that life

sentence. tsa as much as we know at this point. jon: jenna is obsessed with justin bieber too, but she doesn't tattoo him on her leg. >> reporter: i have some bieber maniacs in my house as well. [laughter] jon: we shouldn't be laughing. i guess that was a serious plot, as bizarre as it sounds. jenna: glad that guy's behind bars, right? jon: keep him there, please. jenna: we talked about what's made in china and bought in the united states, but turns out consumer goods aren't the only thing that china is sending to america. in fact, there's a growing number of chinese students that are heading our way, and part of is it because they are trying to get a college education, and many schools are going out of their way to attract even more students from china. claudia cowan is live in san francisco with more on all of this. what's driving the search? >> reporter: well, jenna, you can start with china's booming economy and rich middle class. it means for the first time in china's history millions of families can afford to send their children to american colleges and universities, help

them get those valuable degrees and start networking, and these families are willing to the pay full freight, often tens of thousands of dollars in tuition while their children are free to study what they want. >> we have a lot of freedom to choose classes, professors, your career path, academic path whereas in china everything is set already. >> reporter: there are now 194,000 chinese students enrolled in this cub. jenna, that is one out of every four international student. jenna: so a lot of benefits, but what about the challenges associate with the this type of, i guess you can call it aggressive recruiting? >> well, on some campuses, you're right. it's been a culture shock, and one of the biggest concerns is when these chinese students have trouble with english. we've heard reports that dealing with this language barrier takes up valuable classroom time. at the university of san francisco, in fact, one administrator quit because of that school's aggressive recruiting policy. and it is something other colleges are keeping in mind as

they try to strike a balance. >> if you go into a business class and 80% of the students there are chinese, that's not what the chinese wanted, and that's not what the 20% of americans were expecting either. >> reporter: even so, many u.s. colleges are stepping up their recruiting efforts. some, jenna, even going so far as to have their professors learn about chinese culture and traditions to help better engage these students in class. jenna: interesting trend. claudia, thank you. jon: and just when you thought it was safe to go back into the toy store, he's back. furby, remember him? the hottest toy of the year and one of the hardest to find for the holiday season. more than a decade after he first hit the market. well, if it all sounds familiar, that's because furby was the top toy of 1998. jenna: ah, so vintage. jon: yes. jenna: a vintage toy now. jon: well, he's got a whole new look, and some collectors are selling the original furby for big bucks.

get moving, jenna, if you want any of the season's other hot sellers like monster high dolls -- jenna: that does not look like the barbie dolls i used to get. jon: leapfrog children's tablet computers. jenna: educational. jon: lego sets. jenna: a classic. jon: i like legos, very creative. and do not wait, or you may have to battle to get your hands on a bay blade metal furry dome. jenna: what is that? jon: i don't know, but it's hot, i can tell you that. jenna: i already confessed to you, i haven't done any christmas shopping, and it's december 13th. jon: you don't have a lot of time left. jenna: i'm distracted, which leads us to a segment later on about focusing this time a year. also we have coming up for you a millionaire on the run, and he's still wanted for questioning in a murder in another country. john mcafee is now back in the united states. can he stay here? what's next in this bizarre

story? also, a race between this guy and a thoroughbred racehorse. we're going to show you the winner, coming up. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters? maybe you want to incorporate a business. orrotect your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like the help of an attorney. at legalzoom a legal plan attorney is available in most states with every personalized document to answer questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. sowhy let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours.

stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. >> announcer: 'tis the season of more-- more shopping, more dining out... and along with it, more identity theft. by the time this holiday season is over, an estimated 1.2 million identities may be stolen. every time you pull out your wallet, shop online or hit the

road, you give thieves a chance to ruin your holiday. by the time you're done watching this, as many as 40 more identities may be stolen. you can't be on the lookout 24/7, but lifelock can. they're relentless about protecting your identity every minute of every day. when someone tries to take over your bank accounts, drain the equity in your home, or even tries to buy a car in your name, lifelock is on guard. and with lifelock's 24/7 alerts, they contact you by text, phone or email as soon as they detect suspicious activity in their network. lifelock wants you to be protected this holiday season, so they're giving you 60 days of protection risk-free. >> my years as a prosecutor taught me that you have to be proactive to protect yourself from crime, and that's especially true of identity theft. that's why i'm a member of lifelock. >> announcer: absolutely no one protects you better than lifelock, and they stand behind their protection with the power of their $1 million

service guarantee. in fact, last year, lifelock protected over two million people during the holidays. and now they can do it for you. try lifelock's protection 60 days risk-free. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com/holidays. it only takes minutes to sign up. use promo code: holidays. order now and get a special holiday gift: a document shredder to keep sensitive documents out of the wrong hands... a $29 value, free! call the number on your screen or go online and let lifelock protect your identity for 60 days risk-free. because during the holidays, keeping your identity protected means keeping your family protected. jenna: want to bring you an update on one of our top stories of the day. we mentioned to you earlier defense secretary leon panetta is in afghanistan, a surprise trip there. he is in kabul now. but a few hours ago he was in kandahar visiting the troops there. after he left, several hours

after he left, this is video of him visiting the kandahar, there was an attack at the base there we're learning one soldier was killed, hours after panetta left there is questions whether or not that attack was somehow coordinated with his visit. the secretary of defense is safe. he is in kabul. he is meeting with afghanistan's president, hamid karzai. he announced karzai will make a trip to the white house in the new year. news out of afghanistan. still at war there. of course can't forget our troops this time of year or anytime. more as we get it. jon: there's a new twist to the bizarre saga involving a mill fair software pioneer. john mcafee back in the united states now. but the man known for the anti-virus software that bears his name remains under investigation for a murder in belize. phil keating live from miami with more. phil? >> reporter: jon, no longer stuck in a guatemalan jail, john mcafee is in swanky south beach where he slept

and enjoyed a little bit of newfound freedom. however things could change from him depending on the police in belize. as guatemalan police yesterday morning put him into a car and wifked him off to the airport. it was a normal scene, bed lam and several cameras. he checked into a art deco hotel tell in miami beach and asked for a lot privacy. >> there was a lot of chaos. they stopped airplane before they reached the gate. had everybody sit down and said is john mcafee on the plane. please come forward. there were a whole bunch of officers. i thought this is continuing. we're here to help you, sir. >> reporter: so much for privacy. he is having a noon hour news conference on ocean drives a we speak. he remains a person of interest over the shooting death of his neighbor in belize, fellow ex-pat gregly fowl. police have not charged him. he is person of interest.

at this point u.s. government has no involvement in the case. remember the supposed heart attack he had last week in guatemala? he now concedes he made the entire thing up just to delay or forbid being deported back to belize. it did work. though life is better here in miami, it is still not all roses for mcafee. his 20-year-old girlfriend did not make the flight with him from guatemala city. >> and my, my physician there, put guatemalan bought in very serious situation which is why i'm here now. and why sandra is still there. >> reporter: minutes ago i spoke with the police in belize city. they tell me if they're ongoing investigation into the death of mr. faoul, they believe mr. mcafee would be criminally liable. that could change the situation. there are two treaties that exist. one is extradition treaty with the u.s. and as well as belize have signed. back to you, jon. jon: when i lived in miami,

always seemed weirdest story in the world had a miami connection. this is still another one. >> reporter: they always do, jon. they end up on south beach. jon: yes they do. phil keating keep an eye on it for us. jenna: there could be worse places to work. we'll look at the dow, pretty far from south beach but affects us wall street. economic numbers always important. when we look at number of americans seeking unemployment benefits the latest number show that number is down in the latest week of the labor department said applications for unemployment benefits dropped to 343,000. that is the lowest mark in two months. it is notable. economists say it may be a sign that the job market is improving. they need to see a whole bunch of new hiring to really bring the unemployment rate down. jon: let's get to our spotlight on small business now. we take a look at business owners and entrepreneurs who have found a way to thrive in this very tough economy. general any shader is the

founder and colton jewelry. you're based in washington, d.c., right? >> yes, jon. jon: one doesn't think of washington, d.c. as a fashion capital. >> no. burr we're getting there. i think the fashion community in d.c. is really thriving there is are so many local designers. a community wants that to be here. that is definitely something that will start to be competitive with all the big fashion communities across the nation. jon: you've gotten obviously great write-ups for the jewelry that you've created but you are totally self-taught? >> yes, yes. i was actually, i was working on wall street and very creative career, certainly. i was really looking for a creative outlet and was living in soho. i would always stop by artists and vendors on the way home from work. and i developed a great rapport around wanted to make things very unique and different. i taught myself beading and wiring technique. since then the company has grown tremendously.

we're happy to have been in "people" and by the "washingtonian" magazine and been in style and national museum can of the arts asked us to a create a collection for women of rock. jon: this is great story, following your dream. this is totally different career. kind of wall street monica rear you gave that up to do what you really found your passion in? >> right. it isn't as linear as it seems. i was on wall street and i really enjoyed my experience. my background is in psychology and sociology. i left to write a book about behavior and stress. when i was up in boston that's really when the company came into its being. i launched as an llc in august. that is really when the vintage and modern components really became the aesthetic of the jewelry today. jon: you're selling stuff all over the world? >> i'm selling stuff all over the country. we get orders on-line especially from hong kong and london. it's been great.

we were originally, i never in a million years thought i would be running a jewelry company. it really happened just because people wanted to buy whatever i was wearing off the street, when i was in the subway in boston. that is when i noticed demand for the product. we were featured on internationally acclaimed blogs. that is when it went international which has been amazing. jon: so two questions. you have a growing business. are the banks there to lend you money and are you hiring. >> well, the first part, we're still, we're still in a small space. you know certainly obviously the economy, we're more of accessible price point. so it has been really good for us in that way. my hiring, you know, i am going to be looking to do that, certainly in the near future. we've been growing tremendously. i did not think we would be competitive on cyber monday especial bigger retailers who offered great deals as well. that is past six months we've seen such a spike in our sales especially cybermonday. jon: you might see a spike

after this segment as well. >> we hope so. jon: jennie from koltonj jewelry. >> find more about it on koltonj.com. thanks for having me. jon: you bet. jenna: during the holiday season thousands of americans are struggling to recover from superstorm sandy. now some very special people are helping victims get into the holiday spirit which we all could use this time of year but especially these folks. we'll tell you about that. new details on the family of the suspected gunman behind the tragedy at the packed oregon mall. we learned more about him. we'll share that with you ahead. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that.

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under the christmas tree this year but some good is a pair tans are -- samaritans are trying to change that. douglas kennedy is in our studio. >> reporter: hurricane sandy in july threatened homes and lives on the jersey shore. its aftermath is threatening to cancel christmas. ♪ . around this time of year vanessa is usually hoping for a white christmas. >> pick out decorations, decorate the tree, outside of the louse, normal family things. >> reporter: instead she has been preparing her four children for a sandy christmas which to many on the jersey shore means no christmas at all. you're not going to be able to have christmas this year. your house is wrecked. these are all your belongs. your life is completely devastated? >> yes, it is really tough knowing that my children aren't going to be able to have christmas this year. it is hard to explain to them. >> reporter: vanessa is here from keynesburg, new jersey,

a community hit hard by hurricane sandy in late october. in fact some residents are so destitute they can't afford clothing much less presents for christmas. ♪ . to fellow jersey shore resident stephanie frederick, that is unacceptable. no one should be deprived christmas especially those who are suffering. so you started operation jersey shore santa.org. >> yes, myself and a few ladies started the organization to help help families affected by hurricane sandy and have a good holiday to bring smiles to their faces this year. >> reporter: frederick has spent weeks collecting clothing and presents for sandy vix timts. she says everyone deserves a visit from santa. to you this is what christmas is all about. >> absolutely. we have the luxury to think about the holidays. these families don't. they're worried about their homes. we want to think of the holidays for them. >> reporter: to vanessa's

8-year-old son john paul that means making a list for old st. nick. what do you want for christmas? >> kind of cars. to not make him not want to come here. >> reporter: sand sandy says she will personally make sure santa comes there. you can donate at operationjer operationjersshoresanta.org. jon: americans prove they have big hearts. thank you, douglas kennedy. jenna: competing against the world's best athletes. "blade runner", as you might know, took on a new knowledge. the double amputee raced against a horse in the capital of qatar and won. he got off to a good start and what is described as downhill finish crossed the line with a second to spare. downhill run something not easy for someone with these

type of legs. this is part of an effort to promote the disact and. he made history in london earlier this year when he became the first double amputee to compete at the olympic games before claiming two gold medals at the paraolympics. horse doesn't look close. jon: not close at all. wow, good for him. that's amazing. the world's top search engine releasing its list of the world's top searches and some of these might surprise you. plus, speaking of searching the internet, how much does that distract you from getting your work done? jenna is on there right now. jenna: don't look at me. [ loud party sounds ] hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've gotine grams of protein.

that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. military families face, we understan at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help.

jon: the search engine google release as list of the year's most popular searches. rick has more on them. >> reporter: all right, so

these are the top trending searches of the year, jon, compiled by google based on what people searched for on google in 2012 and trending means these are search topics that the most traffic over a period of time. here are the top five. whitney houston's death. the singing star died you remember of an accidental overdose back in february. next, were searches about hurricane sandy which of course continues to be in the news today. after that the 2012 election that saw the president reelected to a second term. then came searches about the movie, "the hunger games." the film version of the popular book series by the same name. rounding out the top five basketball player jeremy lin who was a surprise star off the bench for the new york knicks. linsanity was only a trend here in new york as lin plays for the houston rockets. some other top trending searches had to do with the olympics, jon. the song, "gangnam style" and teenage bullying back to you. jon: jeremy lin the top

five? >> reporter: number five. jon: interesting. thanks, rick folbaum. jenna: ever feel overwhelmed especially at work, even at home especially this time of year? like you have so much going on between the text-messaging and phone calls and e-mails and skype you simply can't focus? turns out we are distracted, a lot. office workers are interrupted every three minutes and it may take us more than 23 minutes to get back on track to that original task. that is just one study and we're lucky enough to have the author of that study with us. gloria mark is professor of digital behavior at university of california irvine. we'll talk to her about her study. dr. keith bab low is back with us, because dr. ablow, we all realize we need help and you provide it to us this time of year. >> my pleasure. >> dr. mark, first to you. you studied distraction. why are we so distracted? is it other people? is it not our fault, dr. mark, i guess is the question?

>> i would say never before in history have we had access to more people and more information at our fingertips and so it's, the better question, why would we not be distracted? so it is really a question of having the proliferation of so much digital information enabled to us. jon: well it has helped obviously. the digital age has helped increase productivity in this country but when you get all of these updates coming at you, and you know, facebook and twitter and everything else, does it actually hurt productivity? >> well it's really an open question. the thing that we know that is that stress goes up. we know that when people are multitasking a lot, when they're interrupted a lot, they have a significant increase in stress, and we also note that too much stress impacts productivity. so we have to think about a fine balance between, even a

little bit of stress, right, to keep us going to meet the deadlines. jenna: sure. according to one of your studies as i was reading dr. mark, sometimes a little bit of stress helps keep us productive but you don't want to go over the tippingpoint that we get stress out we can't get any work done. on the stress note, dr. ablow, what do we do especially during the holidays? how do we maintain our sanity because it is easy to feel like a maniac? >> absolutely and sooner or later, jenna, we're going to find out that people start taking holidays from technology because they are going to have to whether that means you literally put your cell phone in a box when you walk in the door at home or you only look at it at certain times during the day. the bottom line is that this level of distraction and stress is only going to increase. the fictionalization of you are lives where in everybody thinks he or she is reality tv show, posting partly fictitious facebook profiles,

tweeting out everything you do like you're a rock star which you're not and by the way thinking you're so important you better check e-mail every second while you're at work rather than getting your work done. jenna: wait a minute. besides wanting to be real alty star, point well-taken or rock star, we don't want to miss anything. >> you know what? ben franklin and thomas jefferson and albert einstein didn't have e-mail. they didn't have tweeters or whatever, twitter. and they did just fine for us. the bottom line is that this is distracting and this conveys people away from themselves. it is a drug. it is no different than cocaine or any other drug of abuse. i problem my you, -- promise you, a lot of people will say, this is bad for me and i don't want to do this anymore and they will tweet that out. almost irreese sisable and a formula for disaster. jenna: i encourage dr. mark's work and she took people off e-mail and finds

out what happens to them after a few days. we'll try to put down the devices. >> will you e-mail me later? jenna: totally. >> we'll talk then. jon: you still have to do your online shopping for christmas. jenna: forget it. i have so many windows open on my computer i can't even keep track. jon: at least not during the newscast. hey, there is a hot new fashion for men making its way to the store shelves. who is wearing, yes, tights for men. and why some of us should just stick to blue jeans and khakis.

jon: okay, so i have no clue what this story's about, but jenna's going to make me read it. somebody i have never heard of says that a type of clothing i've never heard of is now fashionable. some men are walking around wearing something called meggings which i'm told is short for male leggings. jenna: they're leggings, jon. jon: well, apparently they don't look good on everybody, i'm not sure they would look good on any